101 Uses For is popular and let's hope it stays that way. Our second book is presently called 101 tips for self sufficiency; we will certainly dip into this section for ideas. So post away and let's try and get at least one thread up to 101.

Milims wrote:we really don't have much of an alternative to the supermarket. It's either that or we try to live on over priced jam! Believe it or not but local food is rather hard to find round here!that said :-

Same here, but I'm not that far from you am I? I have found a fairly local farm shop in one of the neighbouring villages. I was quite suprised when I went there the first time to buy sacks of potatoes and carrots (I've run out of home-grown ). I had assumed that the produce was grown on the farm I was buying it from, but then I found a note in the sacks with the name and address of the farm they were really grown on - about 40 miles away. Oh well, that's much more local than the stuff I could get from the supermarket.

They use tactics to make you overspendThey use tactics to make you 'invest' time searching for products, so you feel like you have to buy themThey sell cardboard boxes rather than let customers use them (Wilkinsons, Asda) so you have to use a plastic bag if you forget your bag.They sell space at isle ends regardless of the ethics of the productThey 'hide' baskets so you have to use a trolley.

Most of it's been just about covered....but here's my two pence worth.

Hypermarkets (we have a lot of them where I live) are the worst because they tempt people into buying things they would not have otherwise thought of doing.

They sell supposed 'budget' items which are of poor quality and often bulked out with nutritionless ingredients and additives. This means that poorer people end up getting food with much poorer nutritional value.

They are awful places to take kids. Bright lights, lots of people, beeping, tannoys, simply overwhelming with all the stuff crammed in. Is it any wonder they make kids cry! And then the pester power factor - were kids seriously worse off when we didn't have smiley faces made of potato? I doubt it.

Whilst our little supermarket in the nearest town is not that bad, and we do use it from time to time, I perfer our little shop in the next village or the passing shop van on a Monday and a Thursday - because the shop keepers have time to chat, know our names and help us all practise our French!

- the offers are always on the cr*p I wouldn't touch with my bargepole- staple ingredients are more expensive than cr*p ready meals that I wouldn't touch with your bargepole- their own brands are mainly water, which I can get out of the tap thankyou- you see tumbleweed blowing through town centres when they open a new branch- they're getting nearer

Maggie

Never doubt that you can change history. You already have. Marge Piercy

What number are we up to? The last time I went to the T-place I wasn't given my card back. I realised this 10 minutes later, went back to ask for it back but despite showing everything with my name on, they refused to give it back to me so I had to drive 10 miles to get my passport. A huge waste of time and petrol and no consideration at all for my inconvenience and the waste this was causing. All for my own protection apparently.

59 (ish). They don't run a tab for you60. They don't say - oh it's ok' when you're tuppence short61. Their overchilled fruit is rock hard, rock hard, rock hard, mush62. They stock 40+ brands / varieties of each kind of product - most of which you don't need in the first place63. They stock very little recycled toilet paper but plenty of coloured / perfumed / bleached / quilted stuff

64. in a bid for 'greenness' some have 'plastic bag recycling' bins at the front entrance yet still encourage you to take plastic bags or chuck them away if they are creased (?!)

65. they spread 'essentials' like milk and bread to opposite ends of the shop so you have to trawl through everything (and end up buying) just to get a couple of things. even knowing this, i am still sucked in by it every time. its depressing and something about myself i really hate. i cant stop spending money we dont have, i dont know how to stop it. the only time i definitely dont spend money is when im at the allotment but having a young baby i cant get down there that easily. anyone else feel like me?

66. there is TOO much choice and i end up getting ridiculously indecisive and anxious when trying to choose an item

Urban Ayisha wrote:65. they spread 'essentials' like milk and bread to opposite ends of the shop so you have to trawl through everything (and end up buying) just to get a couple of things. even knowing this, i am still sucked in by it every time. its depressing and something about myself i really hate. i cant stop spending money we dont have, i dont know how to stop it. the only time i definitely dont spend money is when im at the allotment but having a young baby i cant get down there that easily. anyone else feel like me?

Yes, I used to be like that but I have managed to overcome it. Is there a small shop within walking distance that you can use? Even though the prices may be higher, if you go in completely focussed on what you want and don't browse (act like you are wearing blinkers), you will spend less than if you drive (?) to the supermarket and buy something from every aisle between the milk and the bread.

Another tactic; if you must use the supermarket, can you manage to pay cash? If so, by learning the prices of the items you need, you can take with you only as much money as is necessary to pay for those items. You won't put anything else in your basket because you know that you can't pay for them.

Have you tried making your own bread? It works out so much cheaper than buying, takes very little of your time (most of the time it takes to make, it is doing the work itself), the time it does take you to make it is saved by not going to the shops, and it's more filling so you don't need as much. As for the milk - buy a cow! Oh, well we can all dream can't we? If you're not going to shops as often, you might need to buy bigger or more bottles, or perhaps have the milk delivered. I noticed one brand in A$da that has a much longer shelf-life than the most popular brands in the supermarket, so it might be worth spending an extra 5p or so to cut down on visits.

Bit like Milims, I have no option but to shop at supermarkets. There's nowhere else to shop. Even the little mini markets in my village are part of the big supermarket chains. We don't have milkmen, greengrocers, corner shops, fish or anything else delivery vans etc etc.

Our village market once a week consists of about 2-3 stalls of overpriced food - fish for example is at least 1/2 as expensive again as the supermarket and I can't afford supermarket prices for fish.

The two bakeries in the village sell really awful bread that you'd need teeth like Jaws from James Bond to get through - so when we do buy a baguette the only decent one is from the mini market!

There's a butcher but there's more chance of organic or free range chickens in a supermarket. Plus I can't afford the butcher's prices.

However the supermarket shopping experience in France, especially Lidl, is an absolute nightmare. I love supermarket shopping in England, it's so calm in comparison, the staff are friendly and some even pack your bags for you and Lidl have somewhere you can put your shopping bags i.e. a check out counter (non existant in France). In English supermarkets they go slowly and don't start serving the next customer whilst you're desperately trying to stop the moving mat from crushing all your veg because they just don't care here in France and everywhere, especially Lidl , is just so rush rush rush.

Urban Ayisha wrote:65. they spread 'essentials' like milk and bread to opposite ends of the shop so you have to trawl through everything (and end up buying) just to get a couple of things. even knowing this, i am still sucked in by it every time. its depressing and something about myself i really hate. i cant stop spending money we dont have, i dont know how to stop it. the only time i definitely dont spend money is when im at the allotment but having a young baby i cant get down there that easily. anyone else feel like me?

Yes, I used to be like that but I have managed to overcome it. Is there a small shop within walking distance that you can use? Even though the prices may be higher, if you go in completely focussed on what you want and don't browse (act like you are wearing blinkers), you will spend less than if you drive (?) to the supermarket and buy something from every aisle between the milk and the bread.

Another tactic; if you must use the supermarket, can you manage to pay cash? If so, by learning the prices of the items you need, you can take with you only as much money as is necessary to pay for those items. You won't put anything else in your basket because you know that you can't pay for them.

Have you tried making your own bread? It works out so much cheaper than buying, takes very little of your time (most of the time it takes to make, it is doing the work itself), the time it does take you to make it is saved by not going to the shops, and it's more filling so you don't need as much. As for the milk - buy a cow! Oh, well we can all dream can't we? If you're not going to shops as often, you might need to buy bigger or more bottles, or perhaps have the milk delivered. I noticed one brand in A$da that has a much longer shelf-life than the most popular brands in the supermarket, so it might be worth spending an extra 5p or so to cut down on visits.

Hope that helps. Oops, you didn't ask for help did you?

I have a shopping list - I buy what's on that list and don't look at anything else!